Food wagon

ABSTRACT

687,971. Tea wagons &amp;c. LOUIS, E. S. July 25, 1951 [Sept. 18, 1950], No. 22894/50. Classes 52(i) and 52(iii) In a tea-wagon or like domestic trolley of the kind having a top compartment 15 fitted with a rising and falling platform linked to the lid and elevated for access when the compartment is opened, the platform is carried by end frames 20 raised and lowered by hinged bars 29, 30 provided with guide links 28 pivoted to the compartment walls. Preferably the compartment has semi-circular end extensions 17 covered by the lids 18 and counterbalancing springs 32 may be provided to facilitate the movement of the platform.

May 18, 1954 E, s, Lows 2,678,864

FOOD WAGON Filed Aug. 24. 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inn /mwii Inl/@Tzof- May18, 1954 E. s. Louis 2,578,354

Foon wAGoN Filed Aug. 24. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. S. LOUIS FOOD WAGONMay 18, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 24, 1951 Patented May 18, 1954EOODJWAGDN Edward! Stanislas Louis, Snaresbrook, V,LjonlonN England;`

Applicationt-AugustsM; 1951;' SerialiNo2213,2540*l Claims priority,application PGreat Britainf September 18,11950.

This.;v inventionv concerns foodi Waggons; by

which :isto be understood "Waggons yfor lcarrying prepared foods(suchzas hors-doeuvre) `Ior drinks around a room or cocktail Waggonswhich' hold bottles,` glasses, cocktail shaker and'soon.

Therobj ect offf'the present inventionfis `to f provide aV food waggonhaving7 av large storage space forfood and/ory drink and` in whichvthefood and/or drink is readily accessible for lserving.'

Another obiect of"-the-;inventionristhe-provisiorrotioldableextensions:to the -waggonl =toact placedIoutsi'de the-storage 4space.1

According to` the-` present2r invention -f a food waggoncomprises-anopen-topped compartment within .whichfood-and/ondrinkis 'to -be-stOred;a Ylid.`fto--close=.the compartment, a tray-within the- :compartmenttoreceive 4-food and/ or drink andfa mechanical connectionfbetweenthelidand the -tray whereby when `thee-lid- -is -moved to openthe-'compartment,v theftra-yeisfraisedy-and when" thelidffis f movedtoclose/the "com-partm-ent; the

trayisslowered.;-

Thesaccompanying 4drawings showI-one practit-A 3, the l,lidg-of thecompartmentsbeing fully 'open;.=,

Figure 15 is` 1a View similartoqFigure 4 withthe lideshown insthe partopen position.

Thecocktail wagggn,icomprisesffaacarriagei lil i having legs H mountedon swivelling wheels or castors l2, the legs being connected by panelsi3, l li which form the sides and ends respectively of a compartment l5which is open at the top and is closed at the bottom by panel I6(Figures 4 and 5). The panels i4 are of less height than the side panelsi3 and enclosed semi-circular extensions il are attached to the endswithin which glasses and so on may be stored (see Figure 2). A pair ofhalf lids i8 are hinged to the upper edges of the side panels, at I9,the lids being adapted to close the compartment and the semi circularextensions. The lids are movable from a closed horizontal position to anopen horizontal position extending along the ouside on thecompartment-compare Figures 1 and 2.

(Cl. SRL-2725)* Inu each, end: of the compartment.u there is1 mountedla' U-sllapedmember 20 fhavinga horizontal Ledge' 2i to .receive a tray,22".whioh. con- Y stitutes` a false bottom 'of' the compartment.,

\ Each: U-shaped 'member is` adapted tomoveup and 1down between thepair.y of legs Y I I fat one. endl. of'the compartmentfor, which purposethe legsT are grooved at 23,',to v1eceive.,tl1`e,uprigh'ts 2li of jmember, 20.1 IThe. memb'erslll, are connected, to.. eachof the pairofjlids I8 through..a.lihkage. which is so .arranged 'thatwhemthehalflids are. opened the Ur'shapedl ,members (and .hence-,the tray) are.raised (FigureA) and.,when..the.. half. lids areclosedthe vtrayisloweredl4 The. tray carport bottles. and glasses` so.. that they,vl maybe. stored vin acompact manner-and; without danger off being knocked;overL Since withthe arrangement described when the. lidsare opened. thetray ,israised .readyaccess .is had to.Vthesbottles,andglasses..standingwn the. tray (Figure 2). Moreover, sincewhenthe lids areI`-` movedtoi close.. the` compartment, .the tray islowered,` relatively, tall .bottlesfmayj stand. .on f

ment whenit is. closed.

Itis preferred that .each .half lid befconnected to Jobthoi Lthe-U:shaped memberswhich support` the. .tray althoughit .will Lbeappreciatedthat one f lid `onlyymay be. connectedtothe kmeans for rais--ingrandclowering. the tray or. alternatively eachVv lid..maybeconnectedtosaidmeans .at one :places only.

In the.. preferred ,arrangement `of rlinkageshown in y,the..(ir,awingfvrthe ,uprghtJimbs :21 -of eachA U- shaped member, a1e.each,connected.to-onefend of, a ,link 28 .whiohfis ,pivotallyfmounted kon the legnithe Waggon.. Tbe-.link-is; connected .to .oneiend of a pivotal arm 29,the other end-.ofY-lwhich.. is hinged to the lid. When the lid is openthe link 28 is in a vertical position and lies against its associatedleg of the waggon so that it is incapable of movement to permit the lidto drop from its horizontal open position. When the lid is raised thearms move the links downwardly and inwardly. The links are connected bybars 30 which extend downwardly and inwardly towards, and are attached,to, the horizontal limbs 3l of the members 2i] (the tray supports)whereby the U-shaped member is lowered as the lids are closed. The limbs2l being received by the vertical slots 22 in the legs of the waggon areadequately guided with vertical movements of member 20.

With the arrangement described when one lid only is raised, the members20 are tilted and bear against the legs of the waggon, whereby themovement of the single lid is restricted to a small amount. It istherefore impossible to close one of the half lids-both lids must besimultaneously raised to do so. Nevertheless, it is possible to raiseone lid to open the compartment and, through the linkage described,simultaneously to raise or open the other.

The ttings 2li, 25, 26 are removable from the compartment for cleaningpurposes and the tray 22 may also be removable for this purpose.

Instead of providing fittings to receive glasses and bottles, it will beunderstood that the ttings may be adapted to receive and support dishesfor food.

It is preferred that the weight of the tray and the contents of thecompartment be partly balanced by springs 32 connected, at one end, toplates 33 secured to the end panels i4 of the compartment and, at theother end, to the horizontal limbs 3l of members 2!) so that the lidsmay be opened without undue eiort. In this connection it is arrangedthat when the lids close the compartment the link 28 and bar 3B assume asubstantially vertical position, the pivotal connection between the linkand the bar being either on, or slightly to either side of, the deadcentre position whereby the face of the springs 3'2 is not applied tothe link and bar so as to open the lids. Consequently springs may beprovided to more than counterbalance the combined weight of the tray,contents and of the lids without having thereby any tendency for thelids to be opened by the springs. Indeed, if the pivotal connection isbrought slightly past the dead centre position the springs will tend tohold the lids closed.

One of the limbs 3l carries a plate 34 with a projecting pin 35 and alock 36 is secured to the inside of the corresponding end panel Ill, thebolt 31 of the lock being arranged to pass above pin 35 when the lidsare closed to lock them in this position.

With the arrangement described each arm 29 and its associated bar 30constitute a tie extending upwardly through the compartment from thetray (with which the bar is connected as described) to the lid, to whichthe arm Z9 is connected at a point remote from the hinge axis i9. Thelink 25 which swings in a vertical plane within the compartmentconstitutes a guide to engage the tie comprised by the arm 23 and thebar 30 to maintain the lower part of the tie (i. e. bar 30)substantially vertical. The swinging link 28 is such that when the lidI8 is fully open the arm 29 is maintained substantially horizontal. Theopening and closing movements of the lid are communicated to the tie sothat the bar 30 is moved in its lengthwise direction to raise and lowerthe tray.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been describedspecifically and in detail, numerous variations and changes in designmay be made within the scope of the invention and the specic terms usedin describing the practical embodiment are not to be considered aslimiting the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A food wagon comprising a storage compartment having a iid hinged toone side thereof and movable from a closed position to an open positionin which said lid extends horizontally from one side of saidcompartment, and including a tray vertically slidable within saidcompartment and link means for communicating the movement oi said lid tosaid tray whereby said tray assumes a raised position when said lid isopen and a lowered position when said lid is closed, wherein said linkmeans comprises a bar pivotally connected to said tray and extendingupwardly therefrom through said compartment, an arm pivotally connectedat one end to the upper end oi said bar and at the other end to said lidat a point remote from the hinge of said lid, and a link ulcrumed at apoint within said chamber adjacent the point thereof to which said lidis hinged, said link being attached to the pivotal connection betweensaid bar and arm.

2. A food wagon comprising a storage compartment having a lid hinged toone side thereof and movable irom a closed position to an open positionin which said lid extends horizontally from said compartment, andincluding a tray vertically slidable within said compartment, link meansfor communicating the movement of said lid to said tray whereby saidtray is lowered when said lid is closed and raised when said lid isopened, and spring means constantly acting on said tray forcounterbalancing the weight thereof, wherein said link means includes abar pivotally attached to said tray and extending upwardly therefromwithin the said compartment, a link pivotally connected at one end tothe upper end of said bar and at the other end to a support in saidcompartment adjacent the side thereof to which said lid is hinged, andan arm pivoted at one end to said bar and link and at the other end tosaid lid at a point spaced from the hinge of said lid, said bar and linkbeing movable to approximately mutually aligned positions when said trayis moved to said lowered position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 428,345 Melville May 20, 1890 1,249,514 Scharer Dec, 11, 19171,457,744 Newman et al June 5, 1923

